joy – Matthew's Musings

The world is filled with joy-stealers. If you gave them a $100 bill, they’d be disappointed that it wasn’t five twenties instead and tell you how much more the dollar was worth when they were kids.

They criticize, complain, and find the fault in anything. The Bible says that we should “rejoice with those who rejoice” and “weep with those who weep,” but they get it backwards. If you’re sorrowful, they’re lecturing you on why you should have a better outlook. If you’re celebrating, they’ll rain on your parade. They don’t empathize; they condescend.

These Grinches often hide behind masks of piety or religion, but their actions don’t reflect any biblical definition of Christianity.

True religion certainly has somber times of reflection on weighty matters, but don’t let the joy stealers neglect the myriad celebrations of scripture. When you read the book of Leviticus, you’ll encounter feast day after feast day celebrating what God has done and is going to do. The Holy Spirit produces joy in his hosts, and Paul commanded a fighting church to knock it off and rejoice—more than once.

Isn’t it interesting that false teachers in scripture are not chastised for celebrating too much, but rather as “grumblers” and “malcontents” in Jude 1:16?

Some churches act like joy is a vice. I wonder if the water in their baptisteries was replaced with lemon juice? Maybe that would explain the sour expressions. If you blindfolded a person and dropped them in a room, they might have trouble distinguishing between some funeral home and some worship assemblies. Isn’t that tragic?

People who are in Jesus have been rescued from disaster and given new life—abundant life! “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again, I say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4). If you’re happy and you know it, then your face should surely show it. Don’t rob your family and your church of the gift of joy.

The Gift of Contentment

Some people are never satisfied. Their waitresses never do a good enough job. They always see the newer car and newer toy. Their kids’ coaches never coach quite right. At work, they are always underpaid, overworked, and overextended. They are tired and in debt, but they still haven’t quite kept up with the Joneses. They are never satisfied, and they’re not a ton of fun to be around, either.

One of the best gifts we can give ourselves and our families is the gift of contentment. Contentment isn’t the normal way of life—it’s way better than that! Desire and greed are monsters that are never satisfied. Proverbs calls them leeches who cry “give, give” (Proverbs 30:15). “Never satisfied are the eyes of man” (Proverbs 27:20).

Contentment is the ability to be at peace regardless of the circumstances around us. Contentment doesn’t pretend that things are perfect; it is the choice to be happy now instead of waiting for a perfect world to magically appear.

Paul said, “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content” (Philippians 4:11). Isn’t it interesting that Paul had to learn that skill? He told Timothy that “there is great gain in godliness with contentment” (1 Timothy 6:6-11) because all of our material circumstances can and do change.

Nurturing the virtue of contentment will make you happier and more pleasant to be around. It will make life’s difficult days a little bit easier, and will make your life a testimony to the peace that comes from knowing Jesus.

Society tells you that if your circumstances change, you’ll be happy. Contentment reminds us that the path to true happiness is in the heart. Will you make the choice to be content?